


All Roads Lead to Rome

by Whatif_ifonly



Series: The Roads Series [7]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-01-12 20:49:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1199739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatif_ifonly/pseuds/Whatif_ifonly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The universe is an endless expanse of a thing and in the multi-verse everything that can happen either has happened or will happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! It's been too long... but it's been a crazy month for me. Work has been insane and my Dad's been in the hospital. He's going to be okay - but it was more than a little bit scary and things were touch and go at first.
> 
> I know, I know I should be working on The Road Before Us, Though the Road Was Never Smooth, or Use Your Illusion... don't worry I am. I'm working on chapters 24 of The Road Before Us and Though The Road Was Never Smooth as we speak... and then it's off to chapter 5 of Use Your Illusion.
> 
> This story, as you may or may not have guessed based on the name, is an off shoot of the The Roads Series. It's the story of Jason Brendan Reid's journey and adventures through the multi-verse... and I am open to prompts and suggestions for future chapters - just putting it out there!
> 
> And now, without further adieu, what you came here for...
> 
> Happy reading and enjoy :D

* * *

_Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can._ \- Henry Drummond

* * *

 Jason Brendan Reid smiled as he sat on the bench waiting for his next assignment, reminiscing as had become a habit for him now after all of the different realities he'd visited and altered.

The universe was an endless expanse of a thing and when he'd first started this mission after hugging and kissing her mother goodbye where she sat seated on the bathroom floor after her own experience with the multi-verse, he'd wondered how he would ever begin to work his way through all of the different realities. Then he'd realized that since the multi-verse was a place where everything that could happen, did happen, he wouldn't need to visit every reality. He could exclude the realities where his parents, JJ and Spencer, were already together and he could exclude the realities where they'd never been born or didn't exist. The only universes he needed to worry about visiting were the ones that needed correcting, the universes where his parents were unhappy and suffering separately, the universes where they hadn't met yet or were at risk of missing their opportunity to meet, the universes where it looked like perhaps their chance might have passed them by. Those were the places that he could put things in motion and set his parents on the right course.

Jason snickered at the thought. "I'm sure my sisters are laughing somewhere that this project essentially boils down to me being a multi-verse matchmaker for our parents." He said to himself with a shake of his head. Then he relaxed back against the bench and thought of all the times he's set his parents up, whether they knew it or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaand here's chapter 2... also - I still don't own it. I planned to steal it over the holidays this winter... but the freakishly cold and snowy winter stopped me in my tracks and caused me to have to bundle up in blankets at home. Drats... foiled again.
> 
> Happy reading and enjoy :D

 

* * *

_For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest words are these: "It might have been."_ \- John Greenleaf Whittier

 

* * *

 

Jason smiled as he stepped out of the ether and into the control booth at FedEx field. It was going to be a good game. He'd done his homework; after all he was the son of Dr. Spencer Reid, how could he not do his homework? October 23, 2005. The Redskins played the San Francisco 49s beating then soundly 52 to 17. His mother would over joyed at her team's victory… even more so considering that Dad had received tickets from Gideon for his birthday and asked her join him.

Jason shook himself out of his reverie. He had some work to do if he wanted his parents date to the football game to turn out differently this time than it had originally. He sat down in the control booth chair and rolled up his sleeves as he familiarized himself with the equipment, keeping an eye on the clock so that he would be ready for another crucial part of his plan.

 

* * *

 

 "Spence its fine. You've never been to a football game before so I understand you not knowing that it was okay to dress down. Besides," JJ said as they fought their way through the crowds streaming from the parking lots towards the gates of the stadium, "I think you look adorable in your sweater vest… you might be a little bit out of place, but you look good." She said with a shy smile as she reached out and brushed a stray piece of lint off of Spence's shoulder. She paused smiling up at Spence as she rested her hand on his shoulder.

"JJ?" Spence sputtered nervously as he glanced from her hand on his shoulder to the soft smile on her face and her big blue eyes turned up at him. He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as willed himself to continue breathing as their eyes met.

"Spence?" JJ whispered softly in reply, hoping that he was going to lean down and just kiss her.

"We should um, get inside to the uh game." He replied, nodding in direction of the stadium.

"Oh… yeah… the game." JJ responded turned to look over her shoulder and then falling into step beside Spence. 

 

* * *

 

"So," JJ asked as she held the hot dogs while Spence carried their beers, "where are our seats at?"

"Uh section 101, row 2, seats 1 and 2." Spence replied using his eidetic memory to recall the seat numbers from the tickets.

JJ stopped and stepped off to the side. "Spence those are VIP box tickets." She explained in shock.

"Yeah," Spence nodded, "Gideon mentioned that when I opened the box… but I don't really know what that mea… oomph." Spence exclaimed as he was bumped from behind.

"Oh man, I am sooo sorry." Jason apologized, knowing all the while this had been part of his plan. If his Dad didn't have beer in a cup, it would be harder to spill. Hopefully no spilt beer would mean Mom would be successful in trying to hold his hand… and his other part of the plan would be successful as well.

JJ's eyes widened and she quickly reached out pressing the napkins she held in her hands to Spence's sweater vest attempting to minimize the damage as most of their beers ran down his chest.

"Oh… not cool man… not cool at all." Jason said as he took in the soaking wet front of his father's sweater vest and shirt. "Dude, let me buy you a shirt or something… it's going to be uncomfortable as hell to watch the game in that… and while I'm at it the least I can do is buy you and your girl a replacement beer.

JJ smiled; the face of the kind stranger in front of them reminded her of someone… but she couldn't think who… "Thank you."

"I…yeah… thank you." Spence said in a very distracted tone with JJ's hand on his chest, to the kind stranger in front of them.

"No worries, besides, it was my fault anyway. I should really watch where I'm going more. I get a little too caught up in what's going on in my head; my Mom says I totally take after my Dad like that." Jason grinned, unable to resist a little inside joke of his own as he stood talking to his parents. "Okay… let's get you a new shirt man." He said clapping his Dad on the shoulder. "I'm Jason by the way." He said as he held out his hand.

 

* * *

 

JJ stood outside the men's room waiting for Spence and holding their beers and hot dogs while he changed out of his beer soaked sweater vest, shirt, and tie and into the shirt Jason had bought as a replacement for him. "Hey Spence," she called out as she recognized his familiar head above the others coming out of the rest room. Then the crowd parted and she saw him in a Redskins jersey. "Looking good Dr. Reid."

"Yeah?" Spence asked nervously, his hands smoothing over the jersey, the lightweight material feeling strange as he was used to being in shirts, ties, and sweaters as well as the occasional polo shirt. Such casual clothing felt awkward on his body.

"Very much so," JJ replied, "but we should get to our seats."

"Right, our seats." Spence said as he reached out taking the beer bottles from JJ and heading for their seats.

 

* * *

 

JJ turned to Spence partway through the first quarter, "I have to say you know a lot more about football than I thought you would."

"I, um, spent some time reading up on football the last couple of weeks. I wanted to have an idea of what we'd be going to see. Before that I didn't know anything about football… but I heard what a big fan of football you are so…" he shrugged.

JJ smiled, finding it endearing that Spence had taken the time to find out about football instead of just coming to game. This might be the only football game he would ever attend, and yet he'd taken the time to find out about the sport. She set her hand on top of his on the arm rest their seats shared, her fingers sliding underneath his hand and across his palm as she turned his hand.

Spence jerked at the unexpected feeling of JJ's hand on his own. He lurched forward in his seat. The hand holding his beer flew up from his knee in surprise. If the beer had been in a cup instead of a bottle, the fan in front of him would have been wearing his beer; luckily for that fan, Jason had purchased them bottles of beer not cups.

JJ watched Spence set his beer in the cup holder as she slipped her fingers between his, interlocking their fingers. She smiled as he turned to face her, her thumb stroking lightly over the back of his hand. Then she squeezed her fingers and waited to see his response as she watched his eyes.

Spence's eyes widened as he realized that JJ hadn't been searching for the arm rest. She was holding his hand. He squeezed back.

 

* * *

 

 Jason smiled as he sat in the control booth scanning the crowd. Seeing that his parents were holding hands, he nodded his head realizing that it was time. He prepared the kiss cam logo to appear on the screen and started to work his way through the crowd, picking out couples hovering until said couples realized they were on camera. 

 

* * *

 

As the thunderous cheering settled down from the most recent touchdown and extra point kick, JJ and Spence settled back in their seats. This time it was Spence that reached for JJ's hand, enjoying the feel of her smaller hand in his as they watched the teams on the field set up for the kick off and return.

JJ glanced up at the jumbotron screen at the aww sound from the woman seated next to her. She smiled at the sight of the couple captured on screen by the kiss cam. Then her eyes widened in surprise as she saw herself and Spence on the screen.

Spence turned to look at JJ as she nudged him and was caught off guard as she leaned across the arm rest between them and kissed him. He got lost in the sensation of her palm cupping his cheek; her fingers running through his hair; the softness of her lips; and the way her nose brushed against his as he closed his eyes.

JJ moaned softly as she pulled back, wanting nothing more to continue kissing Spence, but also knowing that they were in a public place and needed to stop... for now. "So Spence, what should we do for our second date?" JJ asked with a smile on her face as her eyes met Spence's.

 

* * *

 

"And my work here is done." Jason said with a smile as he stood up and slipped back into the ether and on to the next universe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note - I am so, so, so, sorry about how horribly long it has taken to update anything! Sometimes being an adult and having responsibilities is hard and not fun... but since being responsible is how I pay for the laptop I'm typing these words on and then internet being used to update (finally!), it unfortunately a necessity. Hopefully life will be a bit more balanced now and I can get back to updating on a relatively more frequent basis.

* * *

 

**_A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it._ ― D.H. Lawrence**

Will smiled as he parked the car in the driveway. He was looking forward to tonight. The new guy, Jason Reid, had volunteered to finish his shift for him and JJ had the next couple of days off since they'd just wrapped up the case with their stalker John Curtis. 'Thank God that ended alright for the most part…' he thought as he climbed the stairs to the front door, then he paused with his hand on the door at the realization that Strauss had died, so really things hadn't ended well at all. 'How long before a previous case of JJ's blows back on us like this case did on Strauss?' he wondered with a shudder as he opened the door, 'Maybe it's time to try talking JJ into going back to the Pentagon again.'

He grinned as he kicked off his shoes at the sound of music playing softly from the kitchen. He loved sneaking up on JJ when she was listening to music. She had a tendency to sing along and he loved it even though lord knows she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. He tip-toed to the doorway of the kitchen and leaned against the door frame watching as she danced around the kitchen singing and wondering how long it would take her to notice him.

JJ paused in her dancing as the next song came on the radio. She turned the volume up and stood looking out the window, the words hitting close to home with the catchy yet slightly haunting melody. Her gaze out the window turned into a thousand-yard stare as she got lost in the words and started to sing along. "But I don't love you, not like you need it. I don't love you, good as you are. And when I kiss you, I know that you can feel it and I see it in your eyes, and it just breaks my heart."

The grin on Will's face slipped as he listened to the words of the Delta Rae song playing on the radio… he tipped his head in contemplation as he thought back over the last five years.

"I wish to God I could change it, darling, could make you the one. I will always have these regrets and wonder what else I could have done, I will…" JJ sang, her voice wavering ever so slightly.

Will thought about all the steps in his and JJ's relationship that had led them to this point. He'd had to push and fight for them to take every step forward in their relationship. He'd always thought that part of it was how intensely private JJ was. But then it'd seemed that she was ashamed of their relationship when after a year of them being together she still hadn't told her team… and then she hadn't told them team about being pregnant with Henry right away… and then there was…

"'Cause if I loved you; I could be happy. I would make you the light of my world. I wouldn't wait, love, I'd marry you tomorrow and we'd make love and I'd be your girl," JJ sang, her voice breaking.

And there it was… the brutally honest truth that they'd always danced around. 'All the times I proposed to her… and it took me almost meeting my maker twice and a helluva scary day for her to ask me to ask again… but that doesn't change all the reasons she always said no before that.' Will thought as he tipped his head, studying JJ and wishing he'd taken a damn psychology class in college. Maybe that would have helped him understand his wife… of course she worked with profilers for the several years before becoming one herself… so that probably wouldn't really have helped him figure this out and realize what he was realizing in this moment. He loved JJ. He loved her so much that he'd wrapped her feet in cement shoes to hold her in place… to keep her with him… and now he was drowning her.

"But I don't love you, much as I want to. I don't love you, no, it would be a lie. And you deserve love, you're better than a good day. And you'll find it, just not in my eyes." JJ sang, her eyes closing as her head dropped back and a single tear rolled down her cheek, "'Cause it ain't here love, no and it just breaks my heart."

"Cher," Will said softly as he crossed the room in three quick strides and wiped the tear from her face, "don't cry." He said softly as he wrapped an arm around her, certain that this would be the last time he would hold her and comfort her like this.

"Will!" JJ exclaimed as she jumped at the contact, "when did you get here."

"A few minutes ago." Will replied in a soft somber tone, cursing what he thought had been his good fortune. There was no way to stick his head back in the sand now.

"Oh, did something happen?" JJ asked as she turned away from Will and quickly wiped at her eyes.

Will shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he turned to lean against the kitchen counter. "No, everything is good. Jason offered to stay and cover the rest of my shift so that I could come home and spend the afternoon with you…" he trailed off.

"Oh," JJ sniffled, "that was nice of him."

"Yeah, he's a great guy. Metro PD really got a break getting a transfer like him." Will nodded in agreement with JJ at what a good guy Jason Reid was as he tried to find a way to bring up the subject that he knew they needed to talk about. "So…'s Henry takin' a nap?"

JJ nodded. "Yeah, he tried to talk me out of it after lunch but he was so exhausted he crashed hard… I just got him down a few minutes ago."

"Oh, well then I guess that gives us time to talk." Will said, his eyes closing as he took a deep breath and prayed for the lord to give him the strength to do the right thing.

"About what?" JJ asked, masking over the emotions that had overwhelmed her in the last three and a half minutes.

"Cher… don't… just… don't. Please," Will murmured, his eyes boring into hers, searching their depths, "I know what I saw when you were singing… and I saw how that song affected you… and…"

"Will, I…" JJ started to argue.

"Shhh… It's okay. This is a conversation that we should have had a long time ago… I was just too bullheaded to see it. I kept tellin' myself that you loved me… and then I'd tell myself that eventually you'd say yes if I jest kept proposing… If your Momma hadn't a been there with her weddin' dress an' Rossi and Garcia hadn't a set up the surprise weddin'… I think you woulda talked yourself out a marrin' me," his voice faltering and his accent strengthening due to the depth of his sorrow.

"But I did Will… and that's what matters." JJ replied reaching out for him.

"No, JJ, it ain't. What matters is that you ain't happy. You haven't been in a long time… and I've been ignoring it because you mean the world to me JJ an' I don't want to lose you… but I love you enough to know that I have to let you go. I know how much you liked butterflies when you were a little girl JJ… and right now you're like a trapped butterfly. Sure you look pretty in the glass jar I've got you in…" Will said choking on his own tears as he reached up to stroke her cheek, "but if I don't let you go, you'll die… maybe not today… and maybe not tomorrow… but little by little every day until eventually, someday the JJ that I love will be gone." Will sniffled, "An' I could never forgive myself for causing that."

An hour and much discussion later, Will walked back out the front door of the house with a duffle bag and a promise to come back and tuck Henry in later that night. He paused and turned to look back at the house over the roof of the car, wondering what he could do to make things easier for his soon to be ex-wife… and then he was struck with the memory of those ten weeks almost two years ago… and JJ's concern over the events of six months ago and then he knew exactly what to do as he pulled out his cell phone while he slid into the driver's seat and buckled up. He pressed the number and listened to the phone on the other end ring, waiting for an answer.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end of the phone answered.

"Spencer, it's Will…" he paused and took a deep breath, "listen, can you come over? JJ could really use a friend right now."

"Is everything okay?" Spencer asked in concern as he grabbed his car keys and pulled on his shoes, not pausing or thinking twice as he stumbled his way to the door.

"No, it's not… but I'm sure it will be eventually… probably starting when you get here." Will replied. Then he hung up and backed out of the driveway.

Spence pulled his Amazon into JJ's driveway beyond concerned about what could possibly be wrong when Will had called to tell him to come over, not giving much in the way of details. He took notice of the fact that Will's car wasn't in the driveway and pulled out his own keys, not wanting to lose what might be precious time waiting for someone to answer the door. "JJ?" he called out anxiously as he opened the door and stepped into the entry way.

He entered the house cautiously when there was no reply, only to find a shell shocked JJ sitting on her couch. "JJ?" Spence asked, reaching out and laying his hand on her shoulder.

"Spence?" JJ managed to croak out in confusion, "What are you doing here?" she asked in a soft confused voice as she squinted at him, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her marriage was over.

"Will called… he told me you could use a friend." Spence as he slid closer, taken in JJ's appearance. She was hunched over, her elbows on her knees, her fingers carded into her hair as her face rested in her hands and she stared at the floor. "JJ… talk to me…"

"Will left." JJ said, her voice an emotionless void in her state of shock.

"Yeah… I noticed he's not here…" He commented, perplexion lacing his voice.

"No, I mean he left. He's coming back tonight to tuck Henry into bed. Then he'll slowly move his things out… then we're getting a divorce." JJ said, confusion in her voice as she turned to look at Spence.

"JJ…" Spence paused, unsure what to say next… he could say he was sorry, but really that would be nothing but an empty platitude. He'd never seen Will as being right for JJ and as much as it had hurt at finding out JJ lied to him about Emily, he had refused then… and he refused now to let their relationship become nothing more than empty platitudes. "I'm here for you… whatever you need… I'm here for you."

Jason stood in the corner, silently watching his mother work through her shock and his father console her. He watched as the possibilities of this universe broke and rewove themselves with the actions of this afternoon. He smiled as he watched his father wrap his arms around his mother. He held his breath and then let it out in a long sigh as she buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist seeking comfort.

It would take days… weeks… months… but eventually, with time, now that Will had stepped out the way, his parents would fall into each other's arms. It wouldn't be sudden, but rather like starting a fire without a match or a flint. At first they would dance subtly around each other as they always had in friendly companionship, but without Will there as a buffer, the chemistry and friction that had built in their first few years working together would redevelop. That friction would generate heat…and smoke… and then their relationship would blaze into friendship set on fire. He smiled at another universe corrected, another universe where he and his brothers and sisters had an opportunity to exist.

Then he happily stepped into the ether and onto the next universe where his parents needed some help.

_**One must learn to love, and go through a good deal of suffering to get to it, and the journey is always towards the other soul.**_ **– D.H. Lawrence**


End file.
